Well it is never too early to satrt thinking about winter, and I have been looking into buying a used snow blower. I stopped and talked to a fella who works on lawn and garden equipment and asked him if he was buying used what he would buy. He recommended Airens, and tried to steer me away from Craftsman where my Brother-in-la3w works and gets a discount on new blowers. ANy thoughts out there from you all on brands you find particularly reliable? Thanks in advance.
Used Snowblower
- Thread starter lobo11
- Start date
- Status
I have an 80's vintage John Deere 1032 (10hp, 32" sweep). It gets 25-35+ hours of tough use/abuse each winter and I'm surprised it's lasted this long.
It's a somewhat tough machine but most of the controls have broken or fallen off over the years ... as well as the shielding around the engine. I've cobbed together replacement components and fasteners ... in many cases making the machine beefier than original.
The whole thing shakes and vibrates unreal and that has a lot to do with the small part failures, I'm sure. I've replaced the drive belts a few times, the drive wheel twice and last winter the side bushings wore out, caused the axle to misalign, broke a chain and sheared the main drive axle itself. Cost over $100 for parts alone ... but that's a lot cheaper than a new one.
At the end of last season, I noticed that the plate the motor sits on is cracked ... severely cracked ... in a couple places. Vibration again, I'm sure. The blower left in April to be fixed/welded. Have to find out where it is. Gonna need it back by Thanksgiving.
It doesn't appear the newer John Deeres are made this rugged, however.
If you are doing a lot of blowin', I'd be tempted to buy that monster Toro with the dual wheels. I think it uses a 13-15hp motor and has a 42" or wider cut. I saw one in a local Home Despot. I just grabbed the handles in the store and felt a primal growl run through me.
--- Bror Jace
It's a somewhat tough machine but most of the controls have broken or fallen off over the years ... as well as the shielding around the engine. I've cobbed together replacement components and fasteners ... in many cases making the machine beefier than original.
The whole thing shakes and vibrates unreal and that has a lot to do with the small part failures, I'm sure. I've replaced the drive belts a few times, the drive wheel twice and last winter the side bushings wore out, caused the axle to misalign, broke a chain and sheared the main drive axle itself. Cost over $100 for parts alone ... but that's a lot cheaper than a new one.
At the end of last season, I noticed that the plate the motor sits on is cracked ... severely cracked ... in a couple places. Vibration again, I'm sure. The blower left in April to be fixed/welded. Have to find out where it is. Gonna need it back by Thanksgiving.
It doesn't appear the newer John Deeres are made this rugged, however.
If you are doing a lot of blowin', I'd be tempted to buy that monster Toro with the dual wheels. I think it uses a 13-15hp motor and has a 42" or wider cut. I saw one in a local Home Despot. I just grabbed the handles in the store and felt a primal growl run through me.
--- Bror Jace
Like has been said, single stage or two stage blower. What horse power are you looking at. I have a little 5hp two stage TORO that is 22 years old and it does not miss a beat. If I was going to replace it, it would be with another TORO.
The Airens is orange and made in WI, the TORO is red and made in MN. Both use the same engine, but I believe the TORO is more solidly built.
The Airens is orange and made in WI, the TORO is red and made in MN. Both use the same engine, but I believe the TORO is more solidly built.
Smaller two stage, 5-8hp, if I got a sweet deal or found a used model that was larger that I really liked, that is fine as well, but the ideal is above. Thanks!
Over on Garden Web, the Ariens seem to get excellent reviews.
Apparently their design hasn't changed very much over the years, so parts are still readily available for even 20-30 year old ones.
Apparently their design hasn't changed very much over the years, so parts are still readily available for even 20-30 year old ones.
Slightly
I have an old, 3.5 hp 2 cycle snowblower that the neighbor's son trash picked. The neighbor was a professional landscaper and had tons of yard equipment, so he told his son he couldn't keep it. Well, I just so happened to be outside at that time and he offered it to me, saying he didn't know if it worked or not and it leaked a little fuel. I tightened up the carburetor bowl to stop the leak and it's been running like a champ ever since.
The whole thing cost me $10 for a new belt and is a single stage blower with the auger up front (not the paddles). It only moves the snow 10 ft, but is perfectly sufficient for my suburban driveway and sidewalk.
Now thats my kind of snowblower.
I have an old, 3.5 hp 2 cycle snowblower that the neighbor's son trash picked. The neighbor was a professional landscaper and had tons of yard equipment, so he told his son he couldn't keep it. Well, I just so happened to be outside at that time and he offered it to me, saying he didn't know if it worked or not and it leaked a little fuel. I tightened up the carburetor bowl to stop the leak and it's been running like a champ ever since.
The whole thing cost me $10 for a new belt and is a single stage blower with the auger up front (not the paddles). It only moves the snow 10 ft, but is perfectly sufficient for my suburban driveway and sidewalk.
Now thats my kind of snowblower.
Bought a new AIrens, 5.5hp two-stage twenty inch clearing width, the smallest two-stage Airens makes. I couldn't see spending the amount individuals and shops wanted for used blowers. For a couple of hundred more I got a brand new blower, and I will know how it has been cared for. The Techumseh engine recommends a oil change after the first two hours. It came with 5w-30 synthetic blend labeled as Techumseh winter-blend or something. I will say this that stuff appeared water thin when shaking next to a brand new bottle of 5w-30 dura-blend. If the Techumseh is reasonable should I go with it, or just use any 5w-30, it says just needs to be SJ/SL approved? Any advice from you guys is appreciated, I do have some Motorcraft SM/GF-4 5w-30 in the garage.
How cold will the engine be when you try to start it? If the blower is stored in a heated garage, I wouldn't be as fussy than if it were stored in an unheated shed in sub zero temps.
I'm not a big synthetic fan, but in extreme cold/heat, they are definitely better.
I see some related threads below. Stored in an unheated garage. It got down to 15 last night, and for the most part for my area we may see a few nights below zero, but usually that is on a clear night so snow isn't a real issue then. I would guess most starts will be between 15-30 degrees.
If it was my machine, I'd use the oil they gave me for break in, then go with a synth 5w-30 after two hours.
Wow, I ran the new blower for about an hour and a half then drained the oil--she looked like a graphite lube there was so much of a silver shine to her. Quite a bit of metal around, fine dust really. I then dumped in some new oil and ran her under load for about a half hour then dumped again--a huge difference with pretty clean looking oil coming out. I did some filtering of both and if people are interested I may attempt to post pics of the residue left on the filter paper form each change.
We decided to buy a snowblower last year. After looking at the prices of used ones, I figured that for a couple hundred bucks more, I could get a new one with nice features.
I ended up with a Toro 726 and really like it. Aside from a manufacturing defect that caused the auger belt to fly off (frustrating when I really needed it to work), it has been fine. The machine was repaired under warranty when the belt finally shredded. It is a 7.5 horsepower , 26 inch two stage unit. That puppy shoots snow over my basketball hoop.
What I really liked about it was the electric start and the joystick chute control. It may seem a bit cheesy, but I can control the chute direction and angle in one easy motion. The Toro also looked to be built a bit more solid than the Ariens with metal bushings and a larger auger gearbox.
I changed the oil in it this fall with a spare quart of GC. I think it will be all set once we finally get some snow.
I ended up with a Toro 726 and really like it. Aside from a manufacturing defect that caused the auger belt to fly off (frustrating when I really needed it to work), it has been fine. The machine was repaired under warranty when the belt finally shredded. It is a 7.5 horsepower , 26 inch two stage unit. That puppy shoots snow over my basketball hoop.
What I really liked about it was the electric start and the joystick chute control. It may seem a bit cheesy, but I can control the chute direction and angle in one easy motion. The Toro also looked to be built a bit more solid than the Ariens with metal bushings and a larger auger gearbox.
I changed the oil in it this fall with a spare quart of GC. I think it will be all set once we finally get some snow.
I have some JPEG pics of the filtered oil, but I am having trobles trying to post the pics. Is there an easy way to post pics here. Any help would be appreciated by you guys.
I have a big Ariens, 12hp - 36 in cut, electric start with battery (no need to plug in). Its about 5 yrs old now. I use Amsoil 5W-30 and I am on the second winter on the same oil. Still looks like it just came out of the bottle. I have often gone more that one year on the sythetic and every engine has never had a problem .I also have a truck to move most of the snow and use the blower where the truck can't get. My first Ariens was 1970 model and so far I have bought a new one ever 10 yrs.
- Status
